DOI: 10.36347/sjavs.2020.v07i04.002

Pages: 77-81

One of the signs of estrus in cows is a change in their behavior, such as more frequent vocalization, riding other cows, and anxiety. However, changes in cow behavior on traditional farms in Indonesia are often overlooked by farmers because they do not always observe for their livestock every time. The evaluation of changes in cow behavior, especially the vocalization, is important for developing sound-based estrus detection devices in Indonesia. This study was carried out to determine the relationship between the changes in vocalization behavior and the occurrence of estrus in Indonesian tropical cows. Five non-pregnant and non-lactating health adult crossbred cows with normal ovarian follicular dynamics from the traditional farm in the Yogyakarta Special Region of Indonesia were recorded using a voice recorder for 25 consecutive days. The vulva was examined twice a day by following these methods; check the inner vulva mucosa, examine the temperature, and rectal palpation to confirm the signs of estrus. The difference in the frequency of cow vocalization during the estrus was analyzed descriptively. From 5 cows we observed, 2 cows showed a different vocalization number at the estrus period. The estrus condition was confirmed by pinkish and reddish inner vulva mucosa, increasing of external vulva temperature and rectal palpation examination. The other 2 cows showed no signs of estrus and there were no different vocalizations numbers during the research. One cow was estrus with no different vocalizations number confirmed. From the two cows, it could be observed that there was a difference in vocalization intensity approximately more than 3 times the fold at the estrus period.